Southwest Airlines chief is staunch defender of ‘bags fly free’

[liberal N proud]

Two years ago, Gary Kelly drew a competitive line in the sand when he decided not to charge passengers for their bags.

The 55-year-old chief executive of Southwest Airlines Co. didn't want employees to face customer wrath for an issue that would have gone against the essence of Southwest.



The 55-year-old chief executive of Southwest Airlines Co. didn't want employees to face customer wrath for an issue that would have gone against the essence of Southwest.

"We had our niche for a long time," Kelly said in his headquarters office at Love Field in Dallas. "We were the low-cost carrier, the low-fare carrier. Nobody paid much attention to us. Well, that ain't the case anymore."

Southwest would just have to get better at being Southwest.

He'd shore up morale by giving raises. He'd let attrition trim the workforce. And he wasn't going to nickel-and-dime customers. He thought he could pick up market share and galvanize the airline's popularity.

Wall Street analysts nailed him as irresponsible, nuts, naive or all of the above. Kelly harbored worries that they were right.

Today he's thumbing his nose at them.

Last week Southwest Airlines reported $11 million in earnings for the first quarter, one year after the carrier lost $91 million.

By Kelly's calculations, Southwest has grabbed nearly $1 billion in annual market share — thanks in large part to people avoiding bag fees.

"We're beating the pants off everybody in terms of our revenue production," Kelly said. "We have fewer seats offered every day, and we're carrying more passengers. We're defying gravity."


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-southwest-20100428,0,6482220.story

[ejpoeta]

1. it's one thing to charge for a second checked bag, but to charge

for carry on!! give me a break!! i will admit i haven't been on a plane in some time, but i know that i will not be flying anywhere unless i have no other choice.

[KittyWampus]

8. there are regulations for carry-ons. They should be enforced. Problem solved.

:)

[marshall]

26. Having regulations or laws and enforcing them are two different things

It's easier to either co turn the other way and pretend one doesn't know it's going on.

[exboyfil]

2. The Southwest ads are great

and if we had Southwest service in our area, I would pay more per ticket (even after a charge on my bag from American Airlines) to just show my support.

Charging for a reasonable amount of luggage is crazy and insulting, and I am glad that market forces rule in this case.

[liberal N proud]

6. Southwest is a great airline with 2 exceptions IMO

The people are friendly and treat you as if they are glad you chose to fly with them. Their prices are not out of line and sometimes downright cheap. Last minute planing isn't necessarily more expensive as it is with other airlines.

I only have 2 issues flying SWA.
They only fly short flights, to get across the country you have to stop 2 or more stops to get there. Not a big deal just makes the trip a little longer.

The other is the boarding which they keep trying to improve while avoiding the seat assignment layer of administration which adds cost.

These are not issues that would keep me from flying SWA. I use them for personal travel whenever it is convenient.

[GoCubsGo]

11. My only gripe with them...

They do not fly anywhere near me. The closest is a five hour drive to Jacksonville.

[liberal N proud]

13. How far to Raleigh-Durham NC?

They have left the Southeast stranded, haven't they.

[exboyfil]

14. Middle Iowa as well

Closest Southwest is a four hour drive for me.

[liberal N proud]

24. I know travel from Iowa sucks

I am from Iowa.

SWA flies into Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis. Not sure how far you are from any of those.

But flat out travel to and from Iowa by plane sucks.

[bullwinkle428]

29. I'm in eastern Iowa, and have driven to Chicago Midway to fly SWA.

[Statistical]

15. The crazy thing? Most places SW flies it isn't any more expensive.

They are just a really well run company.

Ticket is about the same price as the other carriers AND BAGS FLY FREE.

Added bonus is you don't have people trying to overload the cabin to avoid checked bag fees.

[Initech]

20. You know they actually use real Southwest employees in their ads? No paid actors.

[mainer]

3. Cheers for Southwest. After 9/11, they didn't cut their flights or staff

I remember how every other airline used 9/11 as an excuse to cut flights and lay off people left and right. SWA kept every employee, and flew empty planes just to stay on their "business-as-usual" schedule. They convinced the public that, come hell or high water, you could rely on them. I remember talking to a Delta flight attendant, who said glumly, "SWA will be here when the rest of us go bankrupt."

That's when I bought stock in SWA.

[trumad]

4. Yeah---but have that check on be one pound overweight---BANG

25 bucks.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Overweight bags always got a charge

Unitedd charged me $25 to check my bag, and it would have been more if it was over the limit. That's is each way, each bag, from the first one. I'll take SW in the future.

[JTFrog]

9. Compared to other airlines that's ridiculously cheap. Delta you're talking $90 for 1lb over--BANG! ...

Delta overweight baggage policy:

$90 for bags weighing 51-70 lbs.
$175 for bags weighing 71-100 lbs.
Bags exceeding 100 lbs. are not allowed.

That's if your traveling within the USA. If you're traveling abroad that will be $150 for that extra pound please.

[madinmaryland]

28. How much **crap** do you put in your bags??

:wtf:

[Dorian Gray]

5. I have never heard a person complain about

Southwest. (Though I have never flown it myself.) They must be doing something right.

[HughBeaumont]

10. Southwest - the one airline that DIDN'T lay off workers . . . and look where THAT got them:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/HughBeaumont/106

On Sept. 12, 2001, there were no commercial flights in the United States. It was uncertain when airlines would be permitted to start flying again—or how many customers would be on them. Airlines faced not only the tragedy of 9/11 but the fact that economy was entering a recession. So almost immediately, all the U.S. airlines, save one, did what so many U.S. corporations are particularly skilled at doing: they began announcing tens of thousands of layoffs. Today the one airline that didn't cut staff, Southwest, still has never had an involuntary layoff in its almost 40-year history. It's now the largest domestic U.S. airline and has a market capitalization bigger than all its domestic competitors combined. As its former head of human resources once told me: "If people are your most important assets, why would you get rid of them?"

It's an attitude that's all too rare in executive suites these days. As the U.S. economy emerges from recession, Americans continue to suffer through the worst labor market in a generation. The unemployment rate dipped in January, from 10 percent to 9.7 percent, but the economy continued to lose jobs. There are currently 14.8 million unemployed, and when you count "discouraged workers" (who've given up on job seeking) and part-time workers who'd prefer a full-time gig, that's another 9.4 million Americans who are "underemployed." While the pink slips are slowing as the economy rebounds, the lack of jobs remains the most visible—and politically troublesome—reminder that despite what the economic indicators may tell us, for much of the population, the Great Recession hasn't really gone away.

Companies have always cut back on workers during economic downturns, but over the last two decades layoffs have become an increasingly common part of corporate life—in good times as well as bad. Companies now routinely cut workers even when profits are rising. Some troubled industries seem to be in perpetual downsizing mode; the U.S. auto industry, to take just one example, has been shedding employees consistently for decades. (NEWSWEEK is familiar with these pressures: its head count is down significantly in recent years.)

[liberal N proud]

12. My company once could boast never laying off people

They used to have signs that said people are our most important asset all over the facilities.

That changed after 2000, the signs were removed and people are let go all the time, replaced by temps.

[Ishoutandscream2]

16. Ladies and gentlemen - started and based in Dallas, Texas

Bashers?

[Melissa G]

19. _

:rofl: :patriot:from Austin....

[Ishoutandscream2]

30. Thanks for noticing, Melissa

And I'll take that as a good ol fashioned kick! :patriot:

[BlooInBloo]

17. I remember the first time I flew them. I was sooooo confused by the pick-your-seat thing.

:rofl:

[turner52]

18. carry on luggage

Just a thought....would it not be cheaper to FedEx or UPS your bags to your destination?

[Initech]

21. They get a lot of shit, but Southwest is 90% better than a majority of the competition.

[Touchdown]

22. I'll be happy to tell my sister. Bada-bing!

:rofl:

[shedevil69taz]

23. If I was an employee of Southwest

this kind of thing would make me proud to say I work for them, and you know what when the people you employ take pride in the company they work for THEY WORK HARDER FOR THEM. They go the extra mile so to speak. Good to see its making a difference.

[liberal N proud]

25. They have a good workforce

What I have seen, they work hard and still have fun when the can. The flight attendants always try to have a good time.

[pink-o]

27. I'm a ticket agent for a competing carrier that does charge for check-in bags...

...when I fly Southwest, they treat me just like any other passenger, and they've always been great to me. I'm totally impressed with their customer service.

However...I'm not an overweight indie movie director, nor a mother with a screaming toddler, nor a woman going to Las Vegas with a skirt that Southwest deemed to be too short. WTF with that? Seriously, it doesn't gel with Southwest's image that they would hassle or deny passage to arbitrary customers. Like I said, they've been great to me, but I can't defend those actions, and my carrier would never tell a paying customer what to wear, unless they showed up naked. (making it easier to go thru security, I guess!)